(Sep. 10 – 13)Pufferbilly Days

Boone, IA

This festival in central Iowa, just west of Ames is named for a steam engine and features a spike-driving contest, parachute jumps, mud volleyball and rides on the Boone and Scenic Valley Railroad. A parade is Saturday.

(Sep. 11 – 13)James J. Hill Days

Wayzata, MN

The festival in this western suburb of Minneapolis is best known for its Saturday dachshund races, in which more than 100 dogs compete in the hurdles, sprints and sofa jump, followed by a costume contest and smart pet tricks. There's also an arts and crafts fair, water-ski show, kids' carnival and parade at 1 p.m. Sunday on Lake Street.

(Sep. 11 – 13)Indian Summer Festival

(Sep. 11 – 13)Villa Louis Carriage Classic

Prairie du Chien, WI

The Victorian estate on the Mississippi River hosts horses, restored carriages and drivers in period dress for competitive arena and cross-country sport driving, a passion of the frontier aristocrats who built it.

(Sep. 12 – 13)Rock Bend Folk Festival

(Sep. 12 – 13)Laura Ingalls Wilder Days

Pepin, WI

The famous author was born in the bluffs above this Mississippi River town, which celebrates with guided bus tours to the birth site, kids' pioneer games, traditional music and crafts and a Pepin Laura contest that tests knowledge of the "Little House'' books.

(Sep. 13)Scandinavian Day

(Sep. 16 – 19)Pumpkin Festival

Morton, IL

This town near Peoria, home of the Libby's pumpkin-packing plant, calls itself the Pumpkin Capital of the World and serves pumpkin ice cream, pancakes and fudge at its festival, which features a 10:30 a.m. Saturday parade.

(Sep. 18 – 20)Wauktoberfest

Waunakee, WI

This town just north of Madison celebrates with a craft-beer tasting, bike tour, music and lots of contests: frau carrying, hammerschlagen, beer keg race, dachshund dash and Limburger cheese and sauerkraut eating.

(Sep. 18 – 20)Art & Big Fork Festival

(Sep. 19 – 20)Wine & Harvest Festival

Cedarburg, WI

There's a pumpkin regatta — yes, people paddling hollowed-out pumpkins across Cedar Creek — at the fest in this historic mill town just north of Milwaukee. There's also a scarecrow contest, grape stomp, hay rides, juried arts fair and lots of food.

(Sep. 19 – 20)Fall Gathering at the North West Co. Fur Post

Pine City, MN

No one's more fun than a voyageur, and they'll be dancing, boasting and trying to best one another at this family-friendly event an hour north of the Twin Cities. For the kids, there's a bead scramble, candle-dipping and a scavenger hunt.

(Sep. 19 – 20)Bacon Bash

(Sep. 20)Minneapolis Bike Tour

Minneapolis, MN

Ride 16, 25 or 32 miles on parkways along the Mississippi and the Chain of Lakes. Start and finish is Boom Island, along the river in northeast Minneapolis; there's a party afterward with food, music and beer.

(Sep. 23 – 27)Grundy County Corn Festival

Morris, IL

The festival in this town on the Illinois River between Ottawa and Joliet offers stagecoach and train rides, a crackerbox derby, a pie-eating contest, music, a carnival, Saturday fireworks and a parade at 2 p.m. Sunday.

(Sep. 24 – 27)Boats and Bluegrass

Winona, MN

This family-oriented festival in Prairie Island Park, on the Mississippi River, features disc golf, paddling and airplane rides as well as music. A weekend pass includes camping and canoeing, and kids under 16 are free with an adult ticket.

(Sep. 25 – 26)Oktoberfest

(Sep. 26 – 27)Civil War Weekend

Greenbush, WI

Battles are reenacted at this festival at the Wade House historic site near Sheboygan. There's also a traveling medicine show, court martials, a sutler's row, period concerts and appearances by Abraham Lincoln.

(Oct. 2 – 4)Apple Festival

Bayfield, WI

It's the 54th year of this big festival on Lake Superior. Highlights include Big Top Chautauqua concerts, Pipes & Drums from Thunder Bay, the lighted Venetian boat parade and the grand parade at 2 p.m. Sunday.

(Oct. 2 – 4)Oktoberfest

Amana, IA

There's German music and food at this Amana Colonies village, plus contests that include the Eisenmann, or Iron Man, competition: Teams roll kegs, walk a balance beam with full steins of beer and saw logs. The parade is at 10 a.m. Saturday

(Oct. 2 – 3)Chain O' Lakes Blues Festival

(Oct. 2 – 11)Fermentation Fest

Reedsburg, WI

This fest in the scenic hills of southwest Wisconsin is not only about pickles and sourdough bread but also cheese, chocolate, beer and wine. There are classes, tastings, performances, the 50-mile Farm/Art DTour, with Roadside Culture Stands, and Bike the DTour.

(Oct. 3 – 4)Big Island Rendezvous and Festival

(Oct. 3)Apple Affair

Galesville, WI

In the bluffs above Trempealeau, this festival features a 10-foot apple pie, a hunt for a Silver Apple, a race of floating wooden apples and a bicycle tour with a 20-mile route through apple orchards and hillier 35- and 60-mile routes.

(Oct. 9 – 11)Apple Festival

(Oct. 10 – 11)Madison County Covered Bridge Festival

Winterset, IA

John Wayne was born there, George Washington Carver lived there and the famous covered bridges still are there. The festival in this town southwest of Des Moines features guided bus tours to the bridges, free horse-drawn wagon rides to Wayne's house, appearances by Carver and other historical figures, spelling bees, live music and an antique vehicles parade at 2 p.m. Sunday.

(Oct. 10 – 11)Civil War Heritage Weekend at Norskedalen

Coon Valley, WI

This pioneer farmstead in the coulees southeast of La Crosse is wonderfully atmospheric, and the crackerjack re-enactors of the Second Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry's Company B give the region's most affecting portrayal of war.

(Oct. 17)Applefest

(Oct. 17 – 18)Open House Chicago

Chicago, IL

The Chicago Architecture Foundation sponsors this free, behind-the-scenes peek at 150 mansions, clubs, churches, hotels and theaters, including the Lyric Opera, where you can watch a set change and listen to the singers.

(Oct. 22 – 25)Wisconsin Book Festival

(Oct. 23 – 31)Halloween

Anoka, MN

This town, just north of Minneapolis, calls itself the Halloween Capital of the World. Festivities include a Light up the Night parade Oct. 24, pumpkin-carving and house-decoration contests and a 1 p.m. Grand Day Parade Oct. 31.

(Oct. 30 – 31)Jack O'Lantern Days

(Oct. 31)UFO Day

Belleville, WI

There's a craft fair, kids' games and a Forbidden Forest, but the 1 p.m. parade is the main event in this riverside village just south of Madison, where residents reported more than a dozen UFO sightings in the winter of 1987.

(Nov. 20 – 22)Outdoor Adventure Expo

Minneapolis, MN

The expo at the Midwest Mountaineering store on the West Bank includes dozens of speakers and seminars about skiing, sled-dog racing and ice-climbing as well as camping, backpacking and other year-round adventures.